Chapter 9: What is it?”

Amaris POV:

Yeah?? Then what might that reason be?” I fold my arms across my chest, “I mean, you're his girlfriend right? So you definitely know” I said, noticing how her expression fell at the last sentence.

“Okay, there's something I really should tell you.” She said, her expression sullen, giving rise to the anticipation in me, “I've never told anyone this before, not even my parents or my closest friends. But I trust you, so I'm going to tell you”. Now my anxiety and excitement were in full throttle as I waited for her to speak.

“What is it?” I asked in a low soothing voice in an attempt to mask my impatience.

“Mr Thorne isn't……I'm not”. It was obvious that she was at a loss for words, but she finally said it, “I'm not his girlfriend”

“Wait. If you're not his girlfriend then what are you to him?”

“I'm his……mistress, I guess?” She said looking down.

“Like you have sex with him and get paid?” I asked, curiosity etched on my face, as she nodded a positive reply.

“Was that your original job? Orrrrr……how did it start?” I wanted to know more.

“I worked as a waitress in one of those elite clubs. You know, the ones that cater for the rich and famous.” I nod to show her I was listening. “Well, one day as I was working, I met Caleb. I was stunned to meet him, I mean he's the Thorne, so when he told me to meet him at a hotel, I was more than enthralled to go.” She narrated with a faraway look in her eyes, like she was watching it again. “It started becoming a normal thing for me, and he paid me a huge sum anyways. I literally got my monthly salary in just one night with him, so I gladly took the job” a sad look clouded her eyes.

“Well, you could leave if you don't want to continue, right?”, I said as a reassurance and also to know if he was hurting her.

“Oh, no. Don't get me wrong though, I can leave. I just don't want to.” She said, still looking sad.

I became so confused. She seems sad, but she likes the relationship? Is she mentally alright, or is something wrong? So I asked, “if you don't want to leave, then why do you seem sad about it?”

“Because I'm lying to my mom. She wonders where I'm getting all my money when I don't work at the club anymore, so I tell her that I now work as an accountant here”.

“Just tell her that Caleb's your boyfriend and he's the one that gives you all the money.” I suggested a better way. Besides, it will just be a half lie. Her head whipped towards me so fast that I felt like her head might fall off.

“Are you crazy?” She chuckled, “I can't tell my mom that. She'll then want to meet him, and you know how Mr Thorne can be. What am I saying ‘can be’, you know how Mr Thorne is. I can't beg him to go meet my mom, even if the life of every member of the state depends on it”.

“Yeah, you're right.” I agreed, “but do you intend on doing this for the rest of your life? Let's say he decides to let you go, what will you do then?”

“Oh, he's not letting me go anytime soon,” she smiled.

“Uhh. And how exactly do you know that?” I drawled, a little suspicious of her.

“He's in love with me,” she said, sounding extremely sure. “What else do you think made him stick with me for so long?”

I could think of a lot of things that made him stick with her, one being that she probably fucked well, but I wasn't about to burst her bubble, so I said, “ okay, that sounds about right”.

It's already past 3pm. and I've not even gotten a call or mail from Caleb. I'm not going to lie, I'm worried right now, not because I care about him but because if he's gone who'll pay me? Kiara have already left, so I went back to my work.

I know how many calls I've received today, all asking why Caleb isn't there and where he's at. I don't know bro, am I his shadow? Why do they keep asking me that? Anyways, I finally got an email from Caleb, clarifying why he didn't make it.

Something came up, so I couldn't make it today. I'll be there tomorrow.

That's not really “clarifying”, but when it involves Caleb, that's more than enough clarifying. Now that I know he's fine, why do I still have that unsettling feeling in my gut? Maybe I'm just overthinking it this time. Anyways, it's almost six, so I can go home and know that everything's fine.

I did the rest of my job, and in no time it was already six o’clock. I hurriedly packed up my stuff, the desire to go home to bed overwhelming me. As I got to my car, I tried my best but still couldn't shake the feeling of something going wrong. The closer I got towards the apartment, the worse I felt, so immediately I arrived at the building, I parked my car and jumped down in a hurry to get inside.

The door was already open so I just went in. “Mia?” I called. “Mia!” I wasn't hearing her or getting any answers, so I decided to go check the bathroom.

“Mia?” I opened the bathroom door peeking inside. She's got fighting skills so she's okay, right? Picking up my phone, I called her.

Isn't that her phone ringing over there? Where the hell did she go without her phone? It's not even like she's charging it, she just dropped it on the bed. Where could she have gone? I start pacing, something I do when I'm confused and in deep thoughts. I looked down and my eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Is that blood?

Why is there blood on the floor? Was she kidnapped? Did anyone see her? Gracie probably did see her, she's almost always outside her door looking for whom she'll use to gossip, I'm going to ask her.

Running out, I find Gracie rushing towards me, looking like she has something to tell me.

“Gracie, please did you see Mia?” I asked her, fighting back the tears that were about to fall from my eyes.

“Yes, that's what I was coming here to tell you” she started, in her Yorkshire accent. “I heard some noises coming from you guy's apartment, like fight sounds. And then before I knew what was happening, Mia came out sweating, followed by two huge guys at both sides. I wanted to call the cops, but..”

“But what?” I yelled,cutting her off, the tears pouring down now in streams.

“Well, I didn't want to call and then it turned out to be a false alarm. I wasn't sure what was going on” she said looking guilty and sad.

“I'm sorry for the way I talked to you Gracie” I apologized.

“It's okay” she smiled at me.

“Did you see anything else?” I asked trying to pick up on any lead I could. Mia's the one that's good at this detective work, I don't know what to do when it comes to things like this.

“Yeah. They had a black tinted van. And one of the guys had a scar running diagonally from his right brow to the top of his lip” she said.

“Thanks” I said, running back into the room. What do I do now? I pace round the room, running my hand through my hair and crying.

If I call the cops, they'll take a long time in searching for her. But I'm trying to get her back as soon as possible. Who do I know that can help me with such? I crumple on the ground as I think, bathing my face in my tears and snot.

The only option I have now is Caleb, but will he help me? I guess I have to try my luck.

I stare at the caller id for over five minutes, before I get the audacity to call him. Please pick up.